A New Chance
by headbandfreak
Summary: Bella Swan has no expectations from life until a friend offers her help. With this new chance, she gets a new life and she meets a man who needs a new chance at life as well. AH.


**A New Chance**

**Chapter 1**

As I ran towards my house in the dark, I was feeling like I was in a movie, playing the woman who just got her happy ending despite the pouring rain, my slipping shoes and flipping cardigan. I was in one of those cheesy scenes in which the female lead runs towards the love of her life with a huge smile on her face. Yep, I was just her, however, I wasn't running towards a man. I was running towards my freedom and it was even better.

"Bella!" I heard Alice Whitlock scream and I stopped to turn to look at her. God, I hope she didn't change her mind! It would be horrible!

"Stay calm. Don't do anything stupid, Bella. Let me talk to Charlie, okay?" Alice yelled, peeking at me behind the half closed door of her parent's house. It was easier said than done, but I guess I had to wait. It would be better if she told my father. However, I didn't know how the hell I was going to stay calm when I could barely contain myself from jumping around in joy.

"Okay, Alice. Thank you again," I yelled back and let out a ridiculous giggle as she closed the door. Everything was going to be awesome. I could feel it in my bones. I could feel it! It was my turn to live now. Really live. I was finally free. Free from everything that had been haunting me for the last eight years.

The thing which made me feel this giddy and happy could sound stupid to so many people, but not everyone was the same, and it was me. I, Isabella Swan was nineteen, and I was finally leaving this damn town. Of course, I was excited and giddy!

By the time I reached my house, I was soaked and trembling, but I couldn't care less. I could handle being sick, but I couldn't handle staying in this house anymore. I just wanted to pack my things up and go back to Alice, but I had to wait for a little while longer.

"Where the hell have you been?" Charlie grumbled as I dived into the house with wet shoes and made Tanya cringe. The look on her face made me giggle a little, and Charlie frowned, looking at me doubtfully. Well, he usually looked at me like that. He always expected the worst from me and he had a tendency to believe the rumors about me without asking me about them first. I didn't give a damn. He could believe what ever the hell he wanted.

"I visited Alice Whitlock," I replied as sweetly as I could as I removed my drenched cardigan. It didn't even upset me that my only nice cardigan was ruined because of the rain. I was that happy.

"You were there for five hours, Isabella. What did you do there?" Tanya intervened, giving my father a firm look. I hated that woman and I hated my father for letting that woman control her like this.

"We talked about old times. Had some tea. She is a nice woman, Dad," I said in a soft voice which I hoped wasn't too giving. I wanted to keep my father in my side, but Tanya was insistent on ruining my mood.

"She's like fifteen or sixteen years older than you, and she was your babysitter. I don't remember when you became buddies," Tanya hissed, shaking her head. I could only give her a big smile. It killed her to see that her words didn't have an effect on me.

"She was never my babysitter. She's six years older than me, and she would be upset if she knew you thought she was that old. Now, I am going to my room if you don't have anything to ask. Goodnight," I chirped and climbed the stairs to my room, snickering.

It was a strategy that I developed when I was fifteen, and it had been working perfectly ever since. Ignorance. Ignorance was bliss and whomever said that was absolutely correct. Oh, and having no expectations… I may sound like an aimless person, but having zero expectations worked really good too. Once I stopped expecting things from people, and started to ignore the rude comments people made about me, I felt much happier.

I was born in a small hospital in a small town called Forks and saw nowhere else. The first eleven years of my childhood were eventless and pretty normal. I was a normal, fussy kid who loved the same things as other kids did and I only worried over petty things. When I was eleven, everything changed for me and my family.

My mom, Renee and my father, Charlie met when they were both twenty years old. It was love at first sight for my father while falling in love with Charlie took a while for my mother. Anyway, they got married and they had me, and all of these happened in a year. However, my mom was flighty and her feeble love for my father didn't last long.

Renee was a free spirit. She loved doing whatever came to her mind and she was impulsive. She was just the opposite of my father, who happened to be the most down to earth man ever. She loved living and experimenting and one of her experiments changed our life completely when my dad found out that she was cheating on him with his cousin, Clara. It was a very big scandal for a small town like Forks, but I only learned about it a few years ago. I still wished I didn't know.

The divorce that ended my parent's already flawed marriage had also ended my relationship with my father. He wasn't the most affectionate father, and after that incident he became even more cold towards me. Mom moved to Florida with the woman she got caught with and she wanted to take me with her, causing Dad to fume. I didn't know how many hours they argued that day, but I knew from the start that Dad would win that argument. Mom took a last look at me and left the house. Noone asked me what I wanted or how I felt. They just ignored me and mourned for themselves.

I missed my mom terribly. I knew she missed me too. Mom used to call me everyday,only to be yelled at by my father on the phone. I used to cry myself to sleep everynight, hoping that maybe my dad would feel sorry for me and let me at least talk to my mom. It never happened. He just continued to think himself and ignore me.

When I was fourteen, my father remarried, and Tanya joined our life. She was a nurse in the local hospital, and she was the complete opposite of mom. Controlling, boring and stern. She may be considered beautiful with her long blonde hair and grey eyes, but she wasn't lively. My dad and she were a match made in heaven and they were still going strong.

The good people of Forks congratulated their beloved Chief Swan with smiles on their faces when they learned he married for the second time. They thought Charlie's new marriage was long lasting and Tanya was really suitable for him. Oh, the weirdest thing they kept saying was that how Tanya would influence me in a good way. In their eyes, Dad's new marriage would save me as well. Before Dad got married to Tanya, most of the people didn't even let their kids to be friends with me! They didn't see me. They only saw Reene's daughter. Stupid assholes! My only friend was Reverend's daughter, Angela, who turned out to be the biggest asshole later.

Dad was no different from town's people. I was almost sure that he cringed whenever he looked at me since I looked a lot like my mother. He just looked at my appearence and cast me aside. I was the outcast of my town and of my family. With Tanya's growing influence on my father, Charlie and I fell apart in the last few years and we barely talked now.

I was nineteen years old now, but I didn't even have one friend. Well, I used to have Angela before she started telling everyone that I was a lesbian last year. All the girls in the town avoided me at all costs since all of them seemed to think that I was into them. Their pettiness was actually funny and I could only pity them. It would be a lie to say that I liked being alone all the time, but their behaviour didn't hurt me. I would rather be alone than having them as friends.

However, everything was going to change for me today and everything was going to be awesome. Alice was going to be my salvation. She was going to save me and help me live a new life. She promised me and I believed her. I believed that she wouldn't let me down.

I met Alice when I was sixteen years old. Her grandmother, Mrs. Brandon was sick and needed someone to clean her house. I started to clean her house to earn extra money and I met Alice one of these times. After Mrs. Brandon died last year, Alice moved to Seattle and got married. Today was the first time I saw her in a year.

Since 'Bella is a lesbian' thing was still hot news in Forks, there was no way Alice couldn't have heard it. When she tried to ask me about it in a subtle way, I just broke down and told her how miserable I was in this town. I told her how much I regretted that I didn't go to college. I told her how much I hated my father and Tanya. We ended up talking and talking for like five hours and she offered me the greatest opportunity ever. She told me she could find me a job in Seattle and she promised me that she would help me about college! I knew she pitied me and I knew I would be a burden on her, but there was no way I was going to deny this opportunity. I had no other choice and I had to grasp this with both hands.

My father had different ideas, though…

He almost kicked Alice out of the house when she came to him with the idea of taking me to Seattle with her the following morning. He kept yelling and shaking his head while Tanya stood next to him with a frown on her face. The only thing I could do was just stand next to Alice and try not to cry as my father kept going on and on about how ridiculous Alice and I were being now.

"Try to be reasonable, Mr. Swan. She is nineteen and she can do whatever she wants. We just wanted to get your consent,"Alice said in a calm voice as I trembled like a leaf. Consent? I was ready to run away with Alice. Right now.

"Are you going to be living together?" Tanya asked, inspecting Alice with disdain. I knew what she was going to imply next, but I was too busy with being afraid of the idea of getting stuck in here with them.

"Yes, she will stay with me," Alice answered, giving me a warm smile. She had no idea how cunning Tanya was.

"Well, I guess your daughter is into women as well, Charlie," Tanya said in a cheerful voice and gave my dad a sweet smile.

"Oh, fuck it," I heard Alice mutter before she took a deep breath. "Stop bullshitting, Tanya. You know I am married and you know you don't want this girl here. I want to give her a chance at life. She has nothing here! Nothing! And, the worst part is, she doesn't even complain because she is so used to having nothing! I am taking her with me whether you like it or not!"

"She has nothing?" Tanya shrieked, looking offended. "How dare you say this? She is perfectly content here. She has everything she needs. She is our daughter."

The last word she said was enough to make me come to my freaking senses.

"I am not your daughter, Tanya," I blurted out, trying to keep my nerves under control. "And, I am sure Charlie wishes I wasn't his daughter. You just use me. It is like I am your maid. I don't mean anything to you or Charlie," I continued, looking right into Tanya's eyes. "I just want to go."

There was a few seconds of silence before Charlie grumbled something and left the room. I guess that meant I could do whatever I wanted to do, and I started to feel a little bit of hope.

"Whatever. Go and do what the hell you want to do. But, Alice, you will regret your decision to take her," Tanya hissed before going after my father.

That was it. I was free. There was no way to explain the joy I was feeling. I wanted to jump or break into a song!

"Well, that went well," Alice sighed, giving me a smile. "Anyway, you should start packing your things. We are leaving in a few hours."

"Really? In a few hours?" I asked in wonder, not believing my luck. I was going to be away from this place and it would happen in in just a few hours.

"Yeah, really. I have a meeting tomorrow," Alice answered, giggling softly. "I like you, Bella. You deserve a better life. I will help you, but you have to promise me that you will try."

"I will, Thank you," I whispered, barely holding my tears back.

"Don't thank me. We'll talk more later. Now, you go pack," Alice said and laughed when I sprinted towards the stairs.

I was running towars my new life.

My freedom.

* * *

Hi, everyone!

I know it is annoying that I am posting a new story while I haven't updated Seven years for a while, but I just couldn't stop myself from writing this. I promise I will update Seven Years really soon and I will try to update this one regularly.

Please, please tell me what you think about this. I need your opinion:)

Have a great Sunday!

E.


End file.
